(Sunday, 7/12/2020) [Eastern Time (GMT-4)]
Room: AAPM ePoster Library
Purpose: To develop a tool to automate the standardization of structures (nomenclature and display), and dose constraints for the purpose of increasing workflow efficiency throughout the process of contouring, treatment planning and peer review evaluation in a radiation oncology department.
Method: Structure dictionaries were developed following TG-263 recommendations to standardize the nomenclature, color-coding, and contour line thickness and style. Prescription-agnostic dose constraint templates for various sites based on conventional or SBRT fractionation were created using QUANTEC and relevant RTOG/NRG protocols. Structures used for planning but not used for dose evaluation were also included. An in-house program was developed in Python to take the treatment site, prescription-agnostic templates and produce 2 prescription-specific files: (1) an XML file compatible for import into Eclipse TPS (Varian Medical Systems) to create a clinical protocol template, and (2) a CSV plan evaluation file. Eclipse clinical protocol templates include structures and target/OAR plan objectives. CSV plan evaluation files were formatted to match the input of a plan evaluation script developed for Eclipse Scripting API (ESAPI) by a University of Michigan team and distributed on the NRG website. This ESAPI plan evaluation script was utilized to obtain target/OAR evaluation tables for documentation and peer review.
Results: This script significantly decreased the time needed to create clinical protocols in Eclipse since it can create a new protocol based on the user input and template selection in less than 15 seconds. Its implementation led to increased uniformity in naming and display of structures. The standardization of structure nomenclature and display and plan evaluation metrics has improved peer review.
Conclusion: This program improves planning workflow efficiency, standardization-compliance, and peer review of contours and plan evaluation parameters.
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